Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 607A.6 (2026)

Discretionary excuse from jury service

✓ current as of July 2026
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The court may defer a term of grand or petit juror service upon a finding of hardship, inconvenience, or public necessity; however the juror may be required to serve at a later date established by the court. The court may excuse a person from grand juror service, considering the length of grand juror service, in part or in full, upon a finding that such service would threaten the person’s economic, physical, or emotional well-being, or the well-being of another person who is dependent upon the person, or other similar findings of extreme hardship. The courts shall exercise this authority strictly. However, in exercising this authority the court shall allow the employer of the person being asked to serve to give testimony in support of a request by the person for deferral or excuse. The court may dismiss a juror at any time in the interest of justice. 86 Acts, ch 1108, §14

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1997–2020 · leading case: State v. Chidester, 570 N.W.2d 78 (Iowa 1997).
State v. Chidester, 570 N.W.2d 78 (Iowa 1997). · cites it 18× “” See Iowa Code § 607A.6. In conclusion, our affirmance should not be understood as an endorsement of the practice we have described.”
State of Iowa v. Marsean T. Fenton, 919 N.W.2d 768 (Iowa Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 6× “Iowa Code § 607A.6 (emphasis added.) The State relies on the final sentence for the proposition that the court may dismiss a juror for any reason in the interest of justice.”
State of Iowa v. Tyrone R. Washington, Jr. (Iowa Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 607A.6 (allowing “the court” to “defer a term of grand or petit juror service upon a finding of hardship, inconvenience, or public necessity”).”
State of Iowa v. Richard Wayne Leedom (Iowa 2020). · cites it 2× “Leedom urges our court to follow two Texas cases he cites for the proposition that the trial court cannot sua sponte excuse a juror unless he or she is “absolutely 29 disqualified,” without mentioning that both those cases have been overruled. 4 We instead apply Iowa law.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.